Rebirth
by Arainami
Summary: Seasons have passed since the Dark Forest war.  The forest Clans emerged victorious, but only thanks to many loners.  These loners told tales of a cat with the strength of a whole Clan who fought among the shadows for their sake...   Contains spoilers for TLH
1. Prologue

The war between StarClan and the Place of No Stars could not have been won without the assistance of loners, many of which gave their lives in order to help save the Clans. The surviving loners took their rightful places as warriors in a Clan of their choosing, and they were accepted with honor, even the proud ShadowClan cats that call the pine forests their homes. Unbeknownst to the Clans, there was one loner who fought for their sake, who stayed in the shadows and never showed himself unless it was necessary.

Several loners had stories of him, this legendary hero they called the 'Clan of One.' He fought with the strength and speed of an entire Clan. No one ever managed to make out his fur color, or any markings he might have had. All they could tell their new Clans was that he had blue-green eyes that held the ferocity of a lion. Some loners even claimed he had fought in great battles all over, bringing victory to the side he had chosen to fight for.

Seasons have passed since the war. Four newleafs, to be more specific. Since then, the Clans have been at peace and growing in numbers. They have finally recovered to their former strength. But as always, they cannot live in peace for long. A new threat has appeared, a mysterious black cat claiming to be the Clan of One. He demanded hunting rights in all four territories in return for his assistance, and the Clans refused. Out of anger, this newcomer began to attack patrols and cats out hunting by themselves. Two ShadowClanners and a ThunderClan cat have already been killed. Several cats in all the Clans hang on the verge of death. Bramblestar of ThunderClan was the first cat to suggest they join forces once more to hunt down the Clan of One and chase him off, or even kill him if it comes to that. Border patrols now consist of at least five warriors, and the hunting patrols are now organized like Tribe hunts in the mountains; a few cats hunt while the rest act as guards.

United under this common threat, the four Clans haven't fought a single border skirmish in moons.


	2. Chapter One

The forest was quiet. Unusually quiet, in fact. It was a warm greenleaf night, and yet the only noises the fiery red tom could hear were a few crickets and his own muffled pawsteps. His sensitive ears picked up a faint scuffling noise, and his now told him it was a squirrel, but it was hidden away before he could track it down. It was a pity; he hadn't eaten since around sunhigh, just before he left a twoleg nest missing its roof. Even the bramble thickets he weaved through yielded no prey. This far into greenleaf, mice should have been nearly throwing themselves at hunters.

He had heard tales in twoleg cities about a war veteran returning to a distant forest. The veteran had demanded tribute for his services, but the Clans living in the forest refused. Since then, the Clans had lived in terror. Intrigued, the tom had made his way to that forest, but the journey was taking longer than he had hoped.

An owl hooted, and the sudden noise made the tom jump. Flattening his ears in embarrassment, he silently told himself it was a long way away, unfortunately. He wished it was closer so he could lure it in and catch it; owl wasn't all that great, but it was better than nothing. He had learned how to catch hawks and eagles during a brief stay in the mountains. Those methods of hunting would work just as well on other large birds of prey.

At any rate, the hooting faded away, and the tom continued on in silence. A shape loomed before him. It was a wall of stone. Another abandoned twoleg nest stood within it. He turned his gaze to the sky. The moon had passed its zenith. Perhaps it was time to stop for the night. This nest was better than nothing, and by far better than the one he'd left behind.

"I've found you at last!"

The sudden voice caught him off guard, as did the rush of brown tabby fur. He leaped upward and away, crashing straight into the wall. The tom fell into a dazed heap, blinking to clear away the stars. His attacker, a young she-cat, gazed down at him with disgust.

"So this is the mighty Clan of One? A stupid tom that runs into stuff?" She scoffed, lashing her fluffed-up tail. The tom gazed at her, mystified, as he found his paws again. She was certainly young; she probably hadn't seen more than a five seasons. After another moment of surprised staring, he found his voice.

"What are you talking about?" He queried, tilting his head to one side. Though faced with a cat nearly twice his size—and a furious she-cat at that—he kept his cool easily. She let out a hiss and stalked toward him.

"Don't act like a mouse-brain! I know you aren't a Clan cat. No regular loner would dare trespass on ThunderClan territory alone. You are the Clan of One, aren't you?" Her fur was fluffed up so much she was twice her normal size. Thorn-sharp claws dug into the earth as she braced herself to attack. Still, the tom gazed at her in confusion.

"This one is not who you think he is," the tom replied, unsheathing his claws. They were blunt and clean. Obviously he hadn't clawed a thing in several moons, possibly seasons. He hadn't even sharpened them. After a few more moments, the ThunderClanner relaxed slightly, though she still gazed at him suspiciously. She opened her mouth as if she were going to speak more when a loud crack echoed distantly through the forest. Another soon followed, this time a little closer. The tabby's head whipped around toward the source of the sound.

"The alarm! He's been spotted!" She glanced back at the loner after a moment. "You should get going before a patrol catches you. They won't let you off as easy as I am."

Still dazed, the red tom watched as she bounded away.

"The Clan of One, she says…" he muttered, closing his eyes. "Perhaps the rumors were true after all."

He waited for a moment as her pawsteps faded. There was another loud cracking sound. At once, his eyes shot open and narrowed into a deadly glare.

"This one will not allow more harm to come to these cats," he growled, his normally light voice suddenly grave. With practiced ease, the wanderer scaled a tree and began to run for the source of the 'alarms' by jumping from branch to branch like a squirrel.

He'd seen a great deal of bloodshed and death in his lifetime, but all of those battles were necessary for the common good. But this battle—no, this _war_—was completely unjust and unprovoked.

And there was no way he was going to just stand by and let it happen.

[**It's probably obvious by now I haven't decided whether to keep Kenshin-cat's name Kenshin or change it. If all else fails, the few people that actually read this will get a say.** ]


	3. Chapter Two

[**Sorry this took forever and a year. I have my own computer now(so I'm going to have a hell of a time teaching it new warriors-related words), which is awesome. But it doesn't have Microsoft Word on it. I had planned to wait until I got it to work on this, but It's been months since I added to it. So I ended up typing this chapter up in WordPad. If there are any mistakes, let me know, and I'll fix them.**

**Since I finished reading _The Last Hope_, I've been correcting the allegiances. I went ahead and fixed the prologue as well, so Bramblestar is leader now. Some canon characters may not have the correct eye colors since the allegiances in the books don't always mention it. So I made stuff up.**

**To me, it seems a bit rushed, but I _did_ kinda spend three hours today taking the Biology EOC. But hey, even if it is short, it's loner than last time. I get points for that, right?**]

Keeping pace with the warrior was an easy task, given his advantage. While she had to weave around trees and jump over fallen logs, he merely leaped from tree to tree. As he ran, he began to calculate his plan of action. The rumors were true; these cats needed help, and to the extent of his knowledge, he was one of the few cats that could. But how far was he willing to go? Far enough to sharpen his claws…?

Suddenly the tom realized he had passed his unknowing guide. His blunt claws scraped the bark as he waited for her to pass. As she dashed through the undergrowth below his tree, a distant screech drew his attention. His guide gasped and picked up speed.

So the "Clan of One" was attacking again. Maybe now he'd have a chance to give what help he could and track the murderer back to his base, where ever it may be. Narrowing his eyes, he sprang forward again, the branches barely rustling under his paws. The scent of blood reached him, spurring him along. He could tell already a cat was horribly wounded. Pausing at the edge of a clearing, he hid among the leaves to watch the scene before him, biting back a yowl of outrage.

An immense black tom with amber eyes stood over a motionless reddish tabby. Blood soaked the tabby's belly fur and formed a small pool around him. Two other cats, one a snowy white she-cat and the other a light gray tom, crouched with claws unsheathed. Both of their pets were ruffled and scratched.

The brown tabby she-cat from before rushed in, fur on end.

"I heard the alarm! Is he-"

She cut off with a snarl when she spotted the black tom.

"At last," she hissed, her fur bristling, "I meet you in battle! You have taken too many warriors! Prepare yourself!"

Letting out a yowl of fury, she sprang at him, claws unsheathed and slashing.

Despite his size, the tom nimbly pulled to the side as she landed. Sneering, he landed a hard blow on her shoulder, blood flying in an arc from his claws. Shock and pain flashed in her blue eyes as she spun to face him. A shadow of fear flickered across her face for less than a heartbeat.

"Blossomheart!" The injured white she-cat cried, trying to leap to her aid, only to stumble and fall when she put weight on her left leg. _They are very brave_, the watching tom thought,_ to face such a monster with no other back-up._

The assailant rose onto his hind legs, flexing his claws as he aimed to bring them down on Blossomheart's head. The white she-cat cried in anguish and tried to charge forward and save her clanmate, but there was no way she would make it in time.

Now he had no choice but to act. So much for stealth.

The wandering red tom launched himself from the tree, clearing the ground on winged paws. He plowed into Blossomheart, pushing her away from the black cat. As he spun to face the tom, the red loner purposefully stumbled and let himself fall flat on his face. _Better to let them all see it as a lucky save_.

Snarls and a thunder of pawsteps filled the air as more Clan cats filled into the clearing. A golden tom with amber eyes stalked toward the orange tabby, his weight held back from his toes. The wanderer took a moment to shake the dirt from his muzzle, scanning the fiery orange she-cat and gray tabby tom that followed. He could tell by the golden tom's stance that he was no stranger to fighting. But before he could give it any more thought, his attention was dragged back to the so-called Clan of One.

Blossomheart and managed to find her paws and helped the white she-cat to the fresh patrol. "Lionblaze, thank StarClan you arrived when you did," the white she-cat murmured, breathless from panic. The golden tom's eyes swept over the tom lying on the ground and he let out a low growl.

"Foxleap..." Lionblaze murmured, eyes shadowed for a moment. The ginger she-cat that had followed him in darted to the injured tom's side as Lionblaze faced the black tom. He took a step forward, bearing his teeth. The big tom seemed to lose his courage and lowered his broad head slightly.

"I've had enough fun for now, but I'll be back. I, the Clan of One, will kill you all one by one until I get what I want."

Without another word, he fled. Lionblaze charged after him, yowling his fury, but a large brown tabby emerged from the undergrowth and stepped into his way, preventing him from giving chase.

"Enough, Lionblaze, let him go," the tabby commanded, sweeping past the golden warrior to go to Foxleap. Lionblaze growled mutunously, but did as he was told. Lashing his tail, he made his way to where his patrol was gathering around the injured Foxleap.

"Someone go fetch Jayfeather!" The ginger she-cat ordered, flattening her ears.

But it was too late. Foxleap's green eyes opened for a moment, slowly going from one cat to the next. "You.. made it," he breathed. His gaze turned to Lionblaze. "You'll catch him... won't you... Lionblaze?"

The golden tom lifted his eyes from the ground. "Of course I will."

Foxleap smiled softly as his eyes began to glaze over. He opened his mouth slightly to reply, but death stole his voice and stilled his breath. The light faded from his green eyes as he went limp at the dark tabby tom's paws.

The white she-cat yowled long and low in anguish, burring her nose in the tom's still warm fur.

The ginger she-cat glanced from her fallen clanmate to the brown tabby tom. "Bramblestar..." she whispered, eyes lit with sadness. Bramblestar bowed his head and didn't reply.

There was a moment of silence, and the wanderer didn't dare to interrupt. He knew how the Clans were about their dead. As much as he wanted to speak comforting words, he stilled his tongue and waited to be addressed. By what he knew about the Clans, the cat whose name ended in 'star' was the Clan leader. This Bramblestar would speak to him when he was ready, and the wanderer was willing to wait.

Another heartbeat or so passed before the ThunderClan leader turned to face him, a flicker of surprise lighting his gaze. _He had expected me to run off out of fear_, the wanderer reasoned, meeting and holding the larger tom's amber gaze for a moment before blinking and smiling. The brown tabby tilted his head up slightly and twitched an ear, waiting for the loner to explain himself.

"This one was spotted and challenged by Blossomheart, but she ran off to fight. This one was concerned and curious, so I followed her," the red tom explained, dipping his head in respect.

Bramblestar nodded after a moment, closing his eyes. "It's a good thing you did, loner. Otherwise I would have lost two clanmates tonight."

"I was doing fine on my own!" Blossomheart hissed, leaping to her paws. Almost at one her injured leg gave out and she stumbled. The wounded white she-cat helped steady her. "Thanks, Whitewing," she murmured, embarrassed, as Bramblestar glared at her.

"Not from what I saw," he began. "If it weren't for this loner, you would have been killed."

Blossomheart turned her head away, glaring at the place the murderous black tom had stood rather than reply. The red loner shot her an apologetic glance. She ignored it, though, It wasn't really his fault she had gotten scolded.

Bramblestar looked thoughtful for a moment, looking the loner up and down. "Ever since the Great Battle, all four Clans have been more welcoming toward loners. You look to be a seasoned traveler. If you'd like to settle down, or if you just need a place to rest for the time being, you are welcome to stay with us," he offered, motioning with his tail in the direction of the stone hollow.

The light gray tom limped over to the wanderer, waving his tail in a friendly way. "ThunderClan is the best Clan of all. I was once a loner myself," he added, suddenly dipping his head when he realized he might have interrupted his leader. Bramblestar gave to tom a nod, and the light gray warrior relaxed.

Blossomheart spoke up next. "Hey, loner, what's your name?" The ginger she-cat shot her a glare. The light brown tabby meowed indignantly, "What? If he's going to stay, we need to know his name."

Before the argument could escalate, the red tom stepped forward and dipped his head again.

"You may call me Wanderer. That is my name... today."


End file.
